


Stranger at the Gates

by andthewhales



Category: The Walking Dead - All Media Types
Genre: Daryl was never part of the group, Meeting for the first time, arriving at Alexanddria
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-03-16 08:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3481598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthewhales/pseuds/andthewhales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl and Rick meet for the first time in Alexandria.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The hunter arrived in Alexandria two weeks after Rick and his family. Sasha had been working patrol when they brought him in, said he seemed volatile, dangerous. Over dinner she told them about how he'd killed a possum right outside the gates and drug it in with him, refusing to throw it away. A possum. Later, Carol brought home rumors that he'd gutted and cleaned the thing right on Deanna's doorstep, while she interviewed him.

The town had offered the newcomer a place just across the street from their own home, a cluttered place that had become a sort of halfway house for single stragglers who were brought in. Rick had watched him pace the porch as Aaron tried to coax him inside, to meet the other residents. Even at a distance, Rick could see the tension in the man's shoulders, the distrustful way he stood, turned sideways and ready for a fight. He couldn't help but think this stranger would be nothing but a problem and wondered why the hell Deanna had let him in. Then again, he and his own hadn't been much better when they'd arrived. 

Aside from that first day, no one had seen the newcomer (Daryl, Aaron had said) anywhere near the houses. He hung out in the trees, jumped the fence when he thought no one was looking. Maggie and Carol had approached him once, offering freshly baked bread and he'd all but bared his teeth at them like a wild dog. The other townsfolk all kept their distance, quickly leaving whenever he appeared and gossiping once he was out of sight. Daryl didn't seem look for trouble though, just kept to himself and did as he liked.

It wasn't until Judith went missing that Rick even had an opportunity to talk to Daryl. The toddler had been walking for a while now, speeding around grasping for everything, fingerprints on everything, food crumbs and mud and grit in every possible place. It was only a matter of time before she managed the door handles. It had been Rick's day off and he'd fallen asleep with her on the couch only to awake alone, with the front door wide open.

One panicked shout and his family had assembled around him, bar those who were working, and they'd spread out in every direction. She couldn't have gotten far, they's assured him. She would be just fine, she was a Grimes, she was strong. They'd moved onto the third block when the hunter appeared at the end of the street, coming out of the trees with a giggling, flailing Judith hoisted high on his shoulders.

Rick ran at them, Carl hot on his heels and the rest of the family close behind. As they neared Daryl and Judith the man stopped abruptly, carefully and easily swinging the little girl down into his arms and cradled her close, glaring at Rick with uncertainty clear on his face.

"She's yours," he said. Not a question. Rick nodded, reaching for the gun that wasn't there and squaring off with the man before he even realized he was doing it.

"Don't you tear into her for it," Daryl growled, "Just a kid, can't help bein' curious."

"I wouldn't. Not ever."

By then Judith had noticed the appearance of her family and immediately squirmed her way out of Daryl's arms to get to her father.

"Daddy!" she shouted gleefully, throwing herself into Rick's arms when he knelt down for her, "I ate a squirrel!"

Behind them Abraham snorted, and when Rick looked up at Daryl he noticed the man at least had the decency to blush. 

"Don't know nothing 'bout that," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his hand across his chin uncomfortably.

Rick kissed his baby girl on the head and passed her off to Carl, who listened patiently as his little sister began to recount the details of her adventure with "Daruh". At a nod from their father, Carl turned them both towards home and led the others away slowly, keeping pace with the tottering toddler as she bounced along. Rick stayed though, moving to catch Daryl's arm before the man could escape. He seemed displeased with the touch, but didn't shake Rick off.

"Thank you for taking care of my little girl."

Daryl shrugged, looking away. "Ain't nothin'."

"Yes it is. My family is everything to me."

"I know," Daryl said, "Seen ya'll around. Ya keep close together."

"We do."

An awkward silence fell after that, and Rick could see how out of his element the hunter was. He wondered how long he'd been on the outside, how long he'd been alone. What experiences had made him so wary and hesitant with others, yet allowed for the utmost softness with a child? Daryl turned to leave again, ducking his chin in farewell.

"Come by sometime," Rick blurted suddenly, just before the man disappeared into the nearest bunch of trees. "If you don't, she'll be heartbroken."

Daryl frowned at him, eyes downcast as he considered the offer. But after a moment he nodded, his lips quirking up in just the tiniest smile, and then he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Daryl did show up, but not until a week had passed. Carol and Sasha both swore they caught glimpses of him just on the outskirts of the property now and again, and they figured he was sizing up the place. It's what their family would have done. What they had done, in fact, when they first arrived. Never stepped into a house without walking the perimeter, memorizing all the exits. Safety first, always. Rick appreciated that Daryl was smart, if nothing else.

In the end, it was Carl who suggested starting up the grill and luring the hunter in with the smell of cooking meat. On a warm, lazy afternoon when they were sure the hunter hadn’t disappeared over the walls, they gathered outside with toys for Judith and drinks for the grownups. Abraham and Rosita bickered over the techniques of how to grill up wild boar while Noah watched curiously from the sidelines. Maggie and Glenn were suspiciously absent, which had become a frequent habit for them, though no one really had the heart to fight them on it.

Rick sat in the center of the yard, Judith in his lap crashing toy cars against one another dramatically while Carl lay sprawled out beside him, nose deep in comic books. When Daryl showed up it was once again out of the trees, like some sort of rough-cut wood nymph. He moved slowly, deliberately, and there was a string full of squirrels tied around his torso. He caught Rick’s eye and nodded as he approached, then dropped down at a safe distance and proceeded to gut his kills right in Rick's backyard.

Rick tickled his daughter and quickly drew her attention to the newcomer. Judith gasped with delight and hastily tottered over to Daryl, cars forgotten. She tripped a couple times along the way in her excitement and Rick felt a small burst of warmth when Daryl tensed, ready to hustle over to help his daughter if necessary. When she arrived at his side she leaned in over his work, wrinkling up her nose in squeamish curiosity and proceeded to pester her new friend with a long round of "What's that? And that?"

“That poor man has no idea,” Carol muses from behind Rick, leaning down to set a plate of food on his now empty lap. She gives Carl one as well, tugging lightly on his hair and giving him a look to make sure he’d pull himself from the books long enough to eat.

“No idea of what?” Rick asks through a mouthful of what he assumed was venison.

“That he’s gonna be wrapped around her little finger from now on.”

Rick laughs, because it’s true. His daughter had them all on a string, at her beck and call. Even her teenage brother couldn’t help but choose her over his friends when she asked him to play. And truthfully, Rick wouldn’t have it any other way. This newcomer would just have to get used to being pulled along like the rest of them.

The leader watched as Carol brought food to Judith and her new companion, caught the way Daryl’s eyes tracked the older woman from the grill until she stood before him. Carol likely noticed as well, as she was just as sharp as the rest of them. When she bent down to set the plate beside his little pile of animal carcasses, she said something low enough that Rick couldn’t hear, but which was apparently funny enough to get Daryl to snort.

“Stop,” the hunter groused at Carol. But he grabbed a handful of meat off the plate and stuffed it into his mouth gratefully. As he ate his own food, he continued to clean the tiny animal carcasses. Even Rick had to grimace when the man licked the fresh blood off his fingers just as easily as he did the juices of the cooked dear meat. He supposed Daryl had eaten worse things than raw rodents, if he'd been out there as long as Rick had. Bugs, roots, expired canned goods and beyond stale grains. Rick himself could remember the sickening tastes of things he'd never even have dared to touch in the old world.

After those distressing thoughts, Rick took his time to savor his own food before getting up to join Daryl and his daughter.

“You had enough of her yet?” he asked the other man while settling down and pulling Judith into his lap. She squirms around in his grip, knocking his ribs with her bony little elbows as she finds a comfortable position. Once it’s achieved, she hummed contentedly and continued to watch the gutting of the squirrels. Rick noticed belatedly that there was a fat, fluffy tail held tightly in her left fist.

“She ain’t no trouble,” Daryl insisted, eyes trained on the sharp knife in his hand. “Just curious. And chatty.”

“That’s a new development. The talking. She used to be quiet as a mouse, before we came here.”

Daryl nodded, glancing over at them. “Safer that way. She pro’lly knew it, even as a baby.”

“Oh, I know she did. There were times I thought we were done for. In the middle of the night, or when a herd was passing us, and we’d be packed down tight, hiding. Wasn’t comfortable, she ought to have been fussing. But she’d just go real still, silent.” He paused, lost in the memories of the fear that had gripped him in those moments. “She knew, though.”

“Smart girl.”Daryl commented. “Takes after her people, seems like.”

Rick smiled and kissed the top of Judith’s head. “I suppose so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? An actual update? Madness. I apologize to anyone who's been waiting for me to update my fics. I basically ended up rebooting my entire life at the beginning of the year and am just now getting settled back down into what can be considered functionality. And that means more updates (even if they're short), so yay! Hope you enjoyed this one.

**Author's Note:**

> written for fuckyeahrickyl.tumblr.com  
> hope you enjoy it!


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